PS 3537 
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THE GIRL BENEATH 
THE CHERRY TREES 



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HOWARD V. SUTHERLAND 






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THE GIRL BENEATH 
THE CHERRY TREES 



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THE GIRL BENEATH 
THE CHERRY TREES 



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HOWARD VyVuTHERLAND 



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NEW YORK 
Desmond FitzGerald, Inc. 



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Copyright 1914 

By 
Desmond FitzGerald, Inc. 



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A young lady is here represented walking 
against the wind which is blowing the cherry 
blossoms about her, and which are clinging 
to her robes. The carving is by the late Kodo 
Asahi, a resident of Tokio, and in his lifetime 
under the patronage of The Imperial House- 
hold. Kodo is the family name, Asahi the 
given name, which, as is usually the case, 
has a fanciful meaning. Asa means Morning, 
and Hi, Light; together, 'Asahi' — The 
Morning Light. The carving was a Fine Art 
Exhibit in Tokio in the fall of 1899. 



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THE GIRL BENEATH 
THE CHERRY TREES 

To what far bourne of utter joyousness 

Is she addrest — this wind- encircled maid 

Of old Japan? Whence comes she; 

from what tryst 

Of whisper 'd hopes that leave upon her lips 

The smile we cannot fathom? Does she dream 

Of one to whom her beauty is the peace 

Of temple bells at even? Or do yet 

No fancies stir the gentle heart of her, > 

Nor mist her eyes when dawn-flush 

wakens her 

With promise of the golden things to be? 



I sense the scene about her. Overhead 

Dear trees are bending, and their petals fall 

Like blessings on the limbs that flash 

their way 

Above the yielding grasses. Here and there 

They cling like fragrant, rosy messengers, 

All-loth to leave her ; and an upraised arm 

Shields from the breeze a face so delicate 

That surely somewhere from the orchard peer 

Gnarl'd faces at her — spirit presences 

Who loved, long years ago, such joy, ^ 

such innocence. 



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The gentler grace of dead and gentler days 

Haunts us the while in memory again 

We strive to live them, watching her who is 

The Past and yet the Present. We must fade 

Like breath from off the surface of a glass, 

But she shall live forever; other eyes 

Shall someday smile upon her; other lips 

Shall tell her praise, and question, as we do, 

Whence comes she, whither wanders. 

They shall change 

To things invisible, but she shall smile. 



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Pass on, blest maid, fair seeker of the quest 

The sun has seen these ages. Never we 

May know if loved thou art, or if alone 

Thou pressest onward. But thy grace shall be 

To us a promise of white things to come, 

Of dreams to be fullfill'd; and if not here, 

Then otherwheres. For when on 

Beauty's face 

We see the Light, we know that 

somewhere shines 

A rare effulgence, in whose heart at last, 

Our little labors done, we shall find peace. 




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